markup

[grandh01]

The purchase price of an article is $48.
In order to include %15 of the cost for
overhead and to provide $12 of net profit,
the markup should be?
1) 15%
2) 25%
3) 35%
4) %40
5) 45%

OA is D

[alex.gellatly]

The purchase price of an article is $48.
In order to include %15 of the cost for
overhead and to provide $12 of net profit,
the markup should be?
1) 15%
2) 25%
3) 35%
4) %40
5) 45%
/quote]

The markup needs to be %15 of the cost so: 48*.15= $7.2
We also need to add 12 for the net profit. 7.2+12= $19.2
So the mark up needs to be $19.20, but the answers are in %, not $... so wee need to see what % 19.20 is of the original cost ($48). So...
48x=19.2 (x being the markup in %)
Solving for x we get x=%40...
The correct answers is D.

Let me know if this helps.